Theresa May picks Philip Hammond to warn cabinet on perils of hard Brexit

Boris Johnson, at Downing Street yesterday, is among hardliners in the cabinet calling for a “full British Brexit”ANDY RAIN/EPA

The chancellor and the business secretary are being lined up to warn their colleagues on Friday of the dangers of pushing for a hard Brexit.

Philip Hammond and Greg Clark are expected to spell out the possible consequences for tax revenue and business confidence when the cabinet meets at Chequers to try to form a united front.

Theresa May is increasingly believed to be preparing to push her colleagues to accept the softest Brexit, keeping existing rules for goods, with some limited curbs to migration and some reduction to EU access for service companies.

Cabinet ministers will be joined at the prime minister’s Buckinghamshire retreat by key advisers including Olly Robbins, her chief Europe adviser, but excluding Crawford Falconer, the government’s chief trade negotiator.

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